How Oprah Made Her Billions

Oprah's long and successful career has her set for life.

Transcript

00:00Life Well Spent

00:04Presented by GEICO

00:06Oprah is so, so rich.

00:08She's the wealthiest black woman and the fifth wealthiest self-made woman in the U.S.

00:12Her net worth is larger than the GDP of 30 countries, including Liberia and Belize,

00:17and was the world's first black woman billionaire.

00:20Oprah is so rich she once FedExed her horses from a farm in Indiana to her home in Hawaii.

00:26How did she make so much bank?

00:28When she was only 19, Oprah became Nashville's first-ever black female evening news anchor on the CBS affiliate.

00:34In the mid-80s, Oprah moved to Chicago to host a 30-minute talk show called AM Chicago on the local ABC affiliate.

00:41Within the year, AM Chicago topped the ratings, was expanded to an hour, and renamed the Oprah Winfrey Show.

00:47Welcome to the very first national Oprah Winfrey Show!

00:51The show ran for 25 years, was the top-rated talk show in America for all those years,

00:56and won so many Emmys that in 1999, Oprah removed her show from consideration.

01:02She made money on the show through syndication.

01:04Every local station across the country wanted to air the Oprah Winfrey Show, and would pay top-dollar for it.

01:10Oprah owns her production company, Harpo Inc., which allowed her to expand into film, radio, magazines, and her cable channel, OWN.

01:17Because Oprah owns her production company, she's made a lot of income from talents she's brought to TV,

01:23like Dr. Oz, Dr. Phil, Susie Ohlman, and Rachel Ray.

01:27Her magazine, OH, has a circulation of $2.4 million.

01:31She's also a savvy investor.

01:33Oprah made $70 million from her Weight Washers endorsement.

01:36When she put a 10% stake in the company, stock value doubled.

01:40Oprah was ranked the highest-paid celebrity four years in a row, from 2008 to 2012.

01:46Oprah's done very well for herself, especially considering her humble beginnings.

01:50She grew up in Mississippi and Tennessee in poverty, a true rags-to-riches story.

01:55Go, oh, go!

01:57Coinage, life well spent.

02:03Presented by GEICO.